Bolt from the Darkness
by Psychopithicus
Summary: Set in Red Witch’s Misfitverse. Derrick Bolris is an angry and bitter electrokinetic mutant who just wants to be left alone. A bit difficult, seeing as the X-Men and the Misfits both desire his membership.
1. Justa Wanderin'

**How's everybody doing? This is actually my first time writing an X-Men related fic. This one is set in the AU universe belonging to Red Witch, author of over 700 Misfitverse-related stories. Since I'm still getting used to the Misfitverse, it's possible for some details to be a little off, so if that happens, let me know, okay?**

**DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. Red Witch owns Althea Delgado/Wavedancer along with the Misfitverse itself, and Marvel owns all other characters. **

Chapter 1: Just-a Wanderin'

New York City was well-known for its massive cast of mutants, people born with powers far beyond the ordinary. These mutants were often accepted into the X-Men, a band of mutants headed by a telepath named Charles Xavier. Xavier's dream was peace between human and mutant in the future, rather than the prejudice in the present day, and to accomplish this he formed the X-Men to protect those around them.

And yet some did not wish to have the glorious life of a superhero. Some, like the malevolent Magneto, wanted to wipe out the human population entirely, or to prove themselves superior to humanity. Some wished to only be left alone. One teenage boy fell into the final category.

Derrick Bolris stood in front of one of New York's many shops, staring at an active television despite his blonde bangs dangling over his eyes. The news showed the latest heroic exploit of the X-Men, aided by the government-founded mutant team called the Misfits. Derrick simply snorted, shoving his hands into his sand-colored pants and turning away, allowing his brown hair and blonde bangs to twist in tandem with his head.

"X-Men save the day, ra-ra-ra," Derrick muttered to himself as he walked away, wind blowing his dark leather jacket. "Misfits throw in their own two cents, and so on. Magneto goes down again, yay. Am I the only person that just doesn't care about any side? No, really. The X-Men's boss believes in some pipe dream, Magneto's a genocidal maniac, and the Misfits are a bunch of super-soldiers. How can people not see it?"

He paused for a moment.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Pretty much everyone's a freaking racist."

Wandering as he often did, Derrick's path took him down a dank alley. Cardboard boxes and trash cans lined the sides as a cat darted from one side to another. Derrick simply strode through the alley, continuing to talk to himself. It was a habit he had gotten into, as he believed he was the only person who would listen to him.

"How G.I. Joe got five ex-Brotherhood members on their team is beyond me," he continued, "unless of course they used brainwashing. Wouldn't be possible otherwise."

He stopped for a moment, a dark smirk crossing his face as something caught his eye. On the other side of the alley was a lamppost. Many saw it as a large metal pole, but to Derrick, it signaled a time to gain power.

He reached out a hand, placing it on the pole, and the lamppost's light began to flicker. Electricity poured out of the lamppost and into Derrick's hand, surging through his body. When the electrical device was completely drained, he stuffed his hand back into his pocket.

"Another benefit of not being an X-Man is being able to do that," Derrick said. "Controlling powers is fine to a point, but what happens when you won't control it anymore? How's Xavier gonna deal with that?"

****

A bald man in a wheelchair removed a metallic helmet from his head with a slight smile. The room around him resembled the inside a massive silver orb, with a pathway leading to a computer called Cerebro.

Charles Xavier's eyes turned to the paper printing from a nearby slot, showing a picture of Derrick with one hand in his pocket while the other boasted electrical energy swirling around it. Xavier plucked the paper from the machine, and looked over his findings.

"Hmm, Derrick Bolris," Xavier hummed, looking over the data. "He possesses the ability to absorb electricity from any electrically-powered device and manipulate it to his desires."

Xavier placed the tips of his fingers to his head as a telepathic message rang through the minds of the mansion's residents, the X-Men.

"_Scott, Logan, Rogue, and Kurt,_" Xavier telepathically began. "_Cerebro has detected mutant activity in downtown New York. I'd like you to go there and introduce yourselves to a boy named Derrick Bolris, and see if he would be interested in being one of us._"

****

"PIETRO!" cried a girl with blue-streaked black hair as her eyes angrily scanned a dining room. "DID YOU FILL EVERYONE'S UNDERWEAR WITH APPLESAUCE?!"

A teenager with long brown hair shook his head, leaning backwards against a wall to avoid the wrath of a woman scorned. The girl was Althea Delgado, also known as Wavedancer of the Misfits. Lance Alvers, the brown-haired teen, was not quite sure he wanted to know what his teammate Pietro Maximoff had attempted this time.

"I am going to KILL you, Pietro!" shrieked Pietro's raven-haired twin sister, Wanda Maximoff, alias Scarlet Witch, as she burst into the room.

"Gotta catch me, first!" Pietro taunted, blazing through the Misfit Manor with a rush of wind in his wake. Lance's hair and clothing were caught in the gust, though he was rather used to the insanity of the Misfits by now.

"Lance, which way did Pietro go?!" Althea demanded.

"That way," Lance said simply, jabbing his thumb in the direction Quicksilver had dashed to.

"YOU HEAR ME, PIETRO?!" Wanda roared. "WE'RE GONNA KILL YOU THIS TIME!"

"Whoa, people, calm down!" ordered G.I. Joe member Roadblock as he and a teen with lighter brown hair entered the dining room. "We've got something up downtown!"

"Yeah, it's big, yo," Todd Tolansky added. "New mutant."

"Finally," Lance sighed. "That darn coyote was starting to poke me."

He then flinched, as if something was indeed poking him.

"I did not say I wanted therapy from a fur-ball who sounds like my teammate!" Lance bellowed. A slight pause, then he added, "Yes you do! You have that same whiny voice as Pietro does!"

"I am _not _whiny!" Pietro objected, suddenly appearing in front of Lance.

"There he is!" Wanda cried, attacking Pietro in tandem with Althea.

"Oh, Lord," Roadblock groaned, a hand to his head. "Everybody, knock it off! We've got mutant activity, so call it off!"

Reluctantly, Althea and Wanda ceased their assaults, leaving a slightly battered Pietro behind.

"Now, then," Roadblock began. "Arcade's picked up mutant activity in downtown New York. His name's Derrick Bolris and he can manipulate electricity. He can absorb and store it from any electric device in a city."

"And you want us to recruit him?" Lance asked.

"Right in one," Roadblock nodded. "Five Misfits will go, and they're Toad, Wavedancer, Avalanche, Blob and Pyro."

A crackling could be heard in the distance, along with Australian-accented laughter.

"Pyro, don't light things on fire!" Roadblock called. "We've got a mission, so the priority's higher!"


	2. When Tempers Fly

**After spending many an hour writing this chapter while also searching Red Witch's Misfitverse fics for the Avengers (I'm trying to find their current roster for future use), the second chapter is ready. This is where things start to get a little interesting...not to mention ugly.**

**DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris is mine. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer and Trinity belong to Red Witch. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 2: When Tempers Fly

Derrick leaned backwards against a wall, eyes closed and mind wandering. He tried to not let his thoughts stray, but sometimes he could never help it. He squeezed his eyes shut, remembering painful memories.

A man and a woman, both in lab coats and holding syringes as screaming filled the air. That was what Derrick remembered.

"Damn it," Derrick swore, the smallest traces of tears in his brown eyes, "why won't the memories go away? Why doesn't trauma ever leave?"

****

"Does this Derrick guy have powers like Ray?" asked the blue-furred Kurt Wagner.

"Sort of," responded the visor-toting Scott Summers. "Derrick can't make electricity like Ray does, but he can take it from any device that uses it."

"Like Pyro except with electricity instead of fire?" asked a girl with brown hair that had white streaks in the front, known as the power-absorbing mutant named Rogue.

"Pretty much," Scott nodded, "except without Pyro's crazy obsession with burning things."

"Logan," said Xavier as he pressed his fingertips against his head, "I can sense that Derrick is in the vicinity. Set the Blackbird down."

"Got it, Chuck," replied the dark-haired man named Logan, landing the ebon-colored jet into a park. The X-Men departed their mode of transport, though Xavier stayed behind.

"Before you go, I must give you a warning," Xavier advised. "I may have only touched Derrick's mind, but the anger I sensed from him was overwhelming. You all must be careful."

"Don't worry, Professor," Scott nodded. "We've got it covered."

"We can all throw away hope, now," Rogue said with a shake of her head. "Whenever someone says that, it translates to 'we're doomed'."

****

To Derrick, walking was the best way to pull one's mind from their troubles. Despite this, Derrick's travels were not without their hazards. While nowhere near as anti-mutant as the town of Bayville, New York did have a population of mutant-haters.

"Mutie freak!"

"Monster!"

"Genetic nightmare!"

"And Xavier thinks mutants and humans can actually stand being within ten feet of each other for more than five seconds?" Derrick muttered rather loudly, draining the electricity from a car as he spoke.

"Yes," a voice answered, "he does."

Derrick spun around, facing behind him, and saw four X-Men staring him down. Kurt gave a friendly wave, while Logan simply crossed his arms.

"Oh, brilliant," Derrick moaned. "X-Men. Just what I needed."

"Really feelin' the love, kid," Logan grunted.

"Took us a long time to find you," Scott said. "You keep moving."

"That's the idea, one-eye," Derrick snarled, clenching his fists.

"Hey, calm down!" Scott ventured, attempting to defuse the crisis. "We're not here to fight."

"No, of course not," Derrick said, words coated in sarcasm. "You're here to drag me kicking and screaming into your X-Men, right?"

"Somethin' like that," Logan said gruffly.

"Yeah, I figured," Derrick growled.

"Look, Derrick," Scott said, "the Institute was made for people like you and me. It's where we can use our powers—"

"To fight for something not worth fighting for," Derrick interrupted. "I doubt I want to do that."

"Hey, don't be such a sourpuss!" Kurt chuckled, teleporting in front of Derrick. "Even with the random insanity that happens, usually courtesy of the Misfits, it's a lot of fun in the X-Men!"

Derrick glared hard at Kurt, and the blue-furred mutant cringed slightly. The look in Derrick's eyes was that of someone who had both seen and endured horrific things. Many mutants had this in their eyes, but in Derrick's more so. Kurt could barely help but wonder what he went through.

"I'm sure," Derrick said venomously before turning away.

"Wait!" Rogue called with her typical southern accent. "Xavier helped all of us. He helped me cope with my power, even if it means not being able to touch people with risking their lives. He can help you, too."

"Yeah, if I wanted some bald paraplegic trying to get me to believe in his lost cause," Derrick said as he walked away from the X-Men. Kurt, however, teleported in front of him yet again.

"Come on, man!" Kurt pleaded. "Give the Institute a chance!"

"Okay, number one," Derrick began, "you've already got a bolt-thrower in Berzerker."

"Yeah, but—" Scott said, but Derrick cut him off.

"Number two," he said, voice turning hard as he pointed his hand at Scott, "_no_."

Derrick's hand surged with electricity, but a flash of light behind him captured his attention. There, as a result of G.I. Joe's teleporting Mass Device, were Althea, Todd, Lance, a rather large teen with a Mohawk and a blonde spike-haired male.

"Well," began Fred 'the Blob' Dukes, "at least we got the ketchup out of the Mass Device before we got here."

"Trinity's going to be in _so _much trouble when we get back," Althea growled.

"Oh, come on!" Derrick exclaimed, throwing his hands to the sky. "The Misfits, too?! What is this, Drag-Derrick-Into-Stupid-Teams Day?!"

"At least he doesn't like the Misfits," Rogue whispered to Kurt.

"He doesn't like us, either, in case you've forgotten," Logan pointed out.

"Okay, X-Geeks," Lance said, "we'll take it from here."

"Oh no, you won't!" Scott protested. "You're not exposing Derrick to your insanity!"

"Like you're any better!" snapped the mutant in question.

"Can I set him on fire?" asked John Allerdyce, alias Pyro.

"No!" snapped Althea. She then turned to Derrick, attempting to act diplomatically. "Derrick, from what I've read about you in the Joe's files, you know that we're the good guys."

"Doesn't mean I want to spend my time in the army's personal insane asylum," Derrick snarled.

"Thank you!" Scott exclaimed. "Finally, someone realizes how psychotic the Misfits are!"

"Do you honestly think that that means I'll join up with Xavier's personal mutant superhero squad?" Derrick asked.

"Uh," Scott managed, but Derrick interrupted.

"It doesn't, Cyclops," Derrick spat. "There's no point in what you're doing. Look around you. There's barely a human alive that doesn't hate mutants. You guys should know. After all, you live in Bayville. That town was practically _founded _to give mutants hell."

"You know, I always did wonder why Xavier set up shop in Bayville," Todd commented.

"The Institute might not be in the most strategic location," Rogue admitted, "but that doesn't mean you should just ignore us."

"Look, Rogue," Althea interjected. "Derrick's coming with us."

"Yeah, I'm _really _going to hang out with the army's favorite science fair projects," Derrick said with a roll of his eyes and words coated in sarcasm.

"What did you say?!" Althea snapped.

"What do you think I said, you mermaid reject?!" Derrick retorted.

"THAT'S IT!" Althea roared, Fred having to hold onto one arm to restrain her.

"Derrick, will you just shut up and get the fact that we're trying to help you through your thick skull?!" Lance added, in his anger causing a tremor to shake the earth under their feet and blow a fire hydrant into the air.

Althea's powers took effect, the water making a sudden turn and shooting at Derrick. Derrick's eyes widened as more memories flooded into his mind.

A child falling into a swimming pool. The child helplessly flailing about, trying to keep himself from drowning.

And then Derrick screamed.

Derrick discharged a massive burst of electricity, the sheer heat and intensity slicing through the water and evaporating it near-instantly. The bolts of lightning wildly struck around the Misfits, though several struck Althea and shorted her out, the leader of the Misfits falling unconscious.

"AL!" Todd cried, quickly at his girlfriend's side.

The jaws of the X-Men and Misfits collectively dropped. Derrick was hyperventilating, his breaths accelerating the more he stared at Althea's unconscious form. Todd was glaring daggers at the electrokinetic, but Derrick barely noticed.

"No…no…no," Derrick mumbled, his entire body shivering with fear.

Todd's glare lightened. He saw familiarity in what was happening to Derrick. It was the same kind of fear he had when he had first been taken in by G.I. Joe. He had been afraid of almost everyone in the Pit, and he recognized that same expression on Derrick's face at that moment.

"Derrick—" Scott said.

And then Derrick snapped.

"GET AWAY!" he screamed, throwing a shockwave of electricity and the X-Men and knocking them all off their feet, though as the attack was not meant to be fatal, they recovered soon after. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He formed a ball of lightning in his hands and threw it in front of the Misfits' feet, the ball bursting and scattering electricity in front of the army mutants.

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Derrick yelled, tearing through an alley as he continued to pant with fear. The Misfits and X-Men stared for a moment, taking in what had just happened. Then Lance broke the silence.

"Guys, let's get back to the Pit," he suggested to his fellow Misfits. "Al needs some medical attention."

"Can I set her on fire?" John asked.

"No!" Todd snapped. "Let's just go, okay?!"

The Misfits disappeared in another flash of light, leaving the X-Men alone.

"Let's hope she'll be all right," Scott sighed. "Derrick shot off a lot of electricity, but if we didn't die from that, Althea probably didn't, either."

Kurt teleported to the top of a building and began looking around.

"Okay," began the German mutant, "I think I can see Derrick, but he's running pretty fast. He might be hard to track down."

"We have to calm him down!" Scott said. "I think we can still try and get him to listen to reason!"

"Yeah, like that worked with me when you guys first tried to recruit me," Rogue said.

"I remember that," Scott nodded, "but you were being deceived by Mystique at the time. We need to get through to Derrick, no matter what it takes."

****

Derrick stumbled down another alley, gasping for breath and muttering to himself. After a quick check to make sure he was not followed, he slumped against the wall, holding his head in his hands.

"Oh, no…no, no, no," Derrick muttered to himself. "I think I just killed someone. Please tell me I didn't kill someone…"


	3. Derrick's Philosophy

**DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris is mine. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer and Trinity belong to Red Witch. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 3: Derrick's Philosophy

Derrick stared at his hands, both of which had small sparks emanating from them. Were they the hands…of a murderer?

"No," Derrick muttered to himself. "She can't be…Wavedancer can't be dead. I'm not a…not a murderer. I don't want to…I don't want to be like them."

"Your trauma is easily seen," a sinister voice observed, a nearby television's metal antenna wobbling with seemingly nothing moving it.

An old man in red armor floated down from the sky. Derrick instantly recognized him as Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism and head of the Acolytes. Magneto gently landed in front of Derrick, every metallic object around him vibrating from the man's sheer power.

"One does not need telepathic power to see your pain, child," Magneto said.

"I'm sixteen," Derrick growled. "And no, I _don't _want anything to do with your lunatic fringe."

"I have seen your anger, your hatred," Magneto said in the same eerie voice, ignoring Derrick's words. "You desire revenge, Derrick. You attacked the X-Men, you killed—"

"I'm not a murderer!" Derrick roared, standing up with a start.

"Perhaps," Magneto admitted, "but you do not know your own power."

"Maybe," Derrick reluctantly admitted, looking at his hands again. "Still doesn't mean I'm hooking up with a genocidal maniac."

"I can give you the power you need, Derrick," Magneto said, again ignoring Derrick's blunt refusal. "I can help you put it to good use, to prove mutants superior."

"Not on your life, magnet-head," Derrick snarled.

It was at this point that Magneto lost his temper. With his magnetic abilities, he pulled a ladder from a nearby building and bent it around Derrick's body, binding him.

"If you refuse to be my ally," Magneto threatened, "that makes you my enemy."

"What else is new?" Derrick spat.

The electrokinetic was lifted into the air by his bonds, Magneto pulling the proverbial strings like a puppet master with his marionette. The ladder was crushing him. Derrick could feel the pressure squeezing him, as if the ladder had become a boa constrictor snake.

A crimson beam of energy slammed into Magneto, and the four X-Men who had attempted to recruit Derrick earlier quickly arrived on the scene. Magneto's concentration broken, Derrick fell from the sky, but Rogue managed to catch him in mid-air.

"Wait, I thought your only power was taking the powers of other mutants?" Derrick said, noting the fact that Rogue was flying.

"Long story," Rogue said. "The abridged version is, I permanently got the powers of a SHIELD agent named Carol Danvers."

Rogue set Derrick down and pulled the ladder off of him.

"Back off, Magneto," Scott commanded. "Derrick's with us."

Derrick was about to object, but Rogue quickly put a gloved hand over his mouth.

"Is he, now?" Magneto said dryly. "How would that be so if he electrocuted you recently?"

"Well," Scott began, but a pipe flew from nowhere and struck him in the head.

"Scott!" Rogue cried, rushing to his aid.

Magneto floated down again, and slowly approached Derrick.

"Do you truly wish to follow Charles, or are Cyclops' words untrue?" Magneto asked.

"Doesn't mean I'm going to be an Acolyte, bucket-brain!" Derrick snapped, launching a ball of electricity at Magneto.

As when Derrick attacked the Misfits, the ball exploded on contact. As Magneto's armor was metallic, however, the electrical current rocketed through the armor, delivering a powerful shock to Magneto's body. After a long and pained scream, Magneto fell to the ground, a large metal orb coming from the sky.

"This is not over," growled Magneto as the ball sprouted tentacles and pulled its master into it. "I will return."

"What else is new?" Rogue said with a roll of her eyes.

"Okay, Derrick," Scott said, approaching the electrokinetic. "Let's go."

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU NO!" Derrick roared, hand surging with electricity again, but this time, the electricity fizzled out before he could fire a bolt of lightning. "Crap, out of juice."

"You really don't want to be an X-Man, do you?" Rogue asked.

"When did you figure that out?" Derrick spat. "I've only been yelling it to the sky for the past half-hour."

"What could you possibly have against the X-Men?" Scott asked, tone indicating he thought Derrick's dislike of the X-Men was ridiculous.

"It's not the X-Men so much as it is Xavier," Derrick answered.

"So what's your beef with Charles, then?" Logan asked, gruffly as usual.

"He's delusional, that's what," Derrick said harshly. "All of you have been X-Men for years. _Years_. And said X-Men haven't exactly made any progress in making humans and mutants a little friendlier to each other. Humanity still behaves like the same bunch of ungrateful five-year-olds that they were when you were first drafted into the X-Men."

"Like we haven't noticed that?" Rogue said, rolling her eyes. "I can't even count how many times people protested against the Institute."

"And I can't count the number of times that people have thrown rocks at me just to find something to do," Derrick said. "Face it, Cyclops…I'm not meant to be an X-Man. No matter what you or anyone else does, how you do it, the human race won't change their views of mutants. They just won't."

"Xavier doesn't seem to think so!" Scott countered angrily.

"Like I said," Derrick replied, shaking his head, "delusional. He can tell someone's behind him without even looking but he can't see that there's no point to what he's doing. There's no point in protecting people who'll only see you as a mad dog that needs to be put out of its misery."

"Look, Derrick," Rogue began, "when the X-Men first came after me, I didn't exactly jump at the chance, either. Of course, Mystique was messing with my head at the time, so by making herself look like some of the X-Men, she convinced me that they were trying to kill me, not help me. Xavier's probably the most compassionate guy I've ever known. It's like I told you before, he helped me cope with my powers. He helped Scott cope with the fact that he can't open his eyes without destroying something, and he helped Kurt come to grips with how he looks."

"They're different," Derrick said. "Cyclops and Nightcrawler probably needed a little push, but that was before that Sentinel ended up revealing mutants to the world. I don't need a push, Rogue. I don't need _anyone_."

He looked away from them.

"I just want to be left alone," he continued. "I just want to go somewhere that won't have any prejudice. I don't want people trying to get me into their personal clubs just so they can have my powers. I just want to find somewhere nice and quiet…the only place I'll be able to escape the racism."

"Kid," Logan said, "you really remind me of X-23."

"Your clone?" Derrick asked.

"Yeah," Logan nodded. "And I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told her. We might be the only people in the world who can understand you, and maybe the closest thing you could possibly have to a loving family."

"You just don't get it, do you?" snarled Derrick. "I don't want a family, and I don't need to be 'understood'."

He turned and walked away.

"I just want everyone to leave me alone," he finished.

"Derrick, wait!" Scott cried, reaching out to the electrokinetic, but Logan stopped him.

"You can't control the will of others," he said. "Thought you'd learned that when we first took on Juggernaut. Forget the kid, Slim. We're pullin' out."

Logan, Rogue, and Kurt left the scene, but Scott looked in the direction he had last seen Derrick.

"Even if you won't admit it, Derrick," Scott said to himself, "the Institute might be the best place for you."

****

"She'll be okay," G.I. Joe medic Lifeline reported. "Luckily, Derrick didn't hit Althea with a fatal blast. She still shorted out, though, so she'll be out for a few hours."

"That's good to hear," Roadblock nodded as Todd sighed in relief. "Derrick most likely attacked her out of fear."

"I don't care!" bellowed Shipwreck, Althea's father. "That kid's gonna pay for this!"

"Whoa, Shipwreck, cool it!" Todd said. "I got a look at Derrick's eyes. Remember how scared I was when I first got here?"

"How could I forget?" Roadblock sighed.

"Yeah," Shipwreck nodded. "So?"

"Derrick had that same look when he fried Althea," Todd explained. "He was scared out of his mind, yo. Something happened then that made him go from 'jerk' to 'scared kid'."

An explosion in the distance caught their attention.

"That was either Trinity or Pyro," Lifeline guessed.

A teenage male with red hair styled in a bowl cut ran by, three girls with hair colored the same way as Althea in hot pursuit.

"WAIT FOR ME, GIRLS!" Shipwreck cried, chasing after his triplet daughters.

"Must be drinking again," muttered Lance.

"How is she?" asked a snake-like creature with blonde hair that had just entered the room.

"Hey, Xi," Todd said. "Al's gonna be fine, just needs a few hours to rest up."

"Derrick will pay for this," Xi growled.

"Slow down, Xi," Lance said. "Todd explained it earlier, Derrick was afraid when he shocked Al. Pretty much makes it self-defense."

"Hang on, what about Shipwreck?" Roadblock asked. "I think there are places you guys will need to—"

"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU PERVERTED SAILOR!" a woman shrieked.

"…check," Roadblock finished with a sigh. "Never mind. Cover Girl found him."

****

**Yes, I know that Magneto went down with relative ease, but if you can send an electrical current through that armor, the shock will probably be enough to take down just about anyone. Just to clear that up for if anyone starts wondering.**


	4. A Few Plots Spinning

**This chapter is relatively short, but it sets up some future events. Setting up future events is fun.**

**DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. Cobra and G.I. Joe belong to Hasbro, Wavedancer and Trinity belong to Red Witch, and everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 4: A Few Plots Spinning

Cobra, the mortal enemy of G.I. Joe, was known for many things. To the world at large, they were a threat to humanity itself. To the members of the Misfits, they were led by a complete idiot. Regardless, Cobra still plotted world domination, and one of Cobra Commander's latest plans was about to be put into motion.

"Baroness, Destro," the masked leader of Cobra addressed his two second-highest ranking members, the metal-faced Destro and the black-haired Baroness. "It is my great pleasure to welcome to our ranks someone we can trust to retrieve something we shall use to our full advantage!"

"Commander, we have attempted an army of mutants multiple times," Destro pointed out. "Not one of those times has that plan succeeded."

"Ah, true," Cobra Commander agreed. "But my latest plan shall both destroy the Misfits as well as give Cobra the power it needs to conquer the world! All we need is help from this man!"

"Hey, why can't I have my own nuke?!" a distant voice complained. "It's the latest thing! All the cool people have one!"

In an instant, Baroness and Destro's faces—at least, that of the Baroness—paled.

"Sir…" Destro began, but no other words could follow.

"Tell us you didn't hire—" Baroness began, but a humanoid flash of red light interrupted. In the light's place was a man dressed in a red-and-black body suit.

"Aloha, Cobra!" cried the mercenary known as Deadpool. "Uncle Deadpool's here to give noogie lessons!"

He immediately grabbed Destro and began drilling his fist into the Cobra member's head.

"Noogie, noogie, noogie!" Deadpool laughed.

"So glad you could join us, Deadpool," Cobra Commander said as Deadpool released Destro. "I'm sure your talents will be put to excellent use while employed with Cobra."

"Yeah, hold that thought," Deadpool said quickly, pulling out a gun and shooting at the ceiling. "Thou dare taunt-eth the Deadpool, buzzing spawn of Drew Carey?! Thou shalt feel the spiteful and bullet-y wrath of my favorite gun and my yellow thought boxes! Oh, wait, I don't have those here. The yellow boxes, I mean. Darn fan-fics."

"As if we needed more insanity," Baroness muttered as Deadpool continued to shoot into the ceiling.

Deadpool quickly turned to her.

"Hey, wait a sec!" he said. "You're not Bea Arthur! CC said that Bea Arthur would be here!"

"Er, no, actually," Cobra Commander corrected, "I didn't."

"Could I at least have my own pet baby T-rex?" Deadpool whined. "Pleeeeaaaaassseee?"

"I don't see why not," Cobra Commander shrugged.

"Commander, Deadpool will kill us all if he gets his own dinosaur!" Baroness cried.

"Oh, you worry too much," Cobra Commander said, waving Baroness' objection aside. "After all, with Dr. Mindbender, there are plenty of things possible!"

"Yay!" Deadpool cried. "I get my own dinosaur and I can do Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions! Hallelujah!"

"We are most certainly doomed," Destro sighed.

****

Rina Logan, better known as X-23, stared up at the ceiling of her room in the Xavier Institute, long brown hair scattered across her pillow. There were nights when she had nightmares regarding her past as a weapon of Hydra. There were nights when she would sleep peacefully. But this was neither of those nights.

She was wondering about what Logan, her adopted father, had said earlier in the day, when he came back with a report on Derrick.

"_Kid's pretty ticked off at the world, and doesn't want anythin' to do with the X-Men, Misfits, or whatever else floats your boat,_" Logan had said. "_Reminds me_ _a lot of Rina back when I first met her._"

Was it true? Was there really someone who had suffered tragedies enough to make him angry at the world? Was there someone…like her?

_I'll find out one day,_ Rina thought. _One day I'll meet this Derrick._

And then she went to sleep.


	5. Press Conference of Doom

**And now we go back to Derrick. This chapter is sure to be longer than the last one.**

**DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris is mine. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer and Trinity belong to Red Witch, as does the Misfitverse this fic is set in. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 5: Press Conference of Doom

Derrick meandered through an alley, sighing as evening came upon the city. What a day he had. First the X-Men try to recruit him against his will, then he shocks one of the Misfits into unconsciousness, and finally he has to team up with the X-Men against Magneto. In some mutants' lives, this was a rather calm day. Derrick, however, was not used to such things.

"Those X-Men will probably be back later," he said to himself, draining electricity from a power box as he spoke. "Last I checked they don't give up on forcing a mutant into their cause."

Derrick left, leaving behind an electricity-free power box, unaware of a pair of red eyes stariong out from the shadows. The eyes faded away, disappearing along with their owner.

****

Two days later, a man in a red-and-gold armor stood alongside a man dressed in an orange-and-red costume with goggles on his head. Beside the two was a rather tall shape covered by a white sheet. The two men, Iron Man and Giant Man of the Avengers, stood on a wooden platform with a crowd of people gathered around.

Derrick lingered at the back of the crowd. Though the affairs of non-mutants held no interest for him, he wanted to see what the Avengers were planning. He narrowed his eyes at the sheet. Was it another Sentinel? Were they preparing to hunt down mutants in the same manner as those merciless machines?

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen," Iron Man began in a synthesized voice. "We've called this press conference to show you all the newest member of the Avengers."

"Before you ask," Giant Man said, "we did clear this with S.H.I.E.L.D. Everything's good."

"Good for whom?" Derrick muttered under his breath.

"Iron Man and I were doing experiments with writing a human intelligence onto a microchip," Giant Man continued.

"Mostly Giant Man," Iron Man interrupted. "I did do some things, though. Giant Man, would you like to do the honors?"

"I sure would!" said the goggles-wearing Avenger cheerfully, growing to a massive size and grabbing hold of the sheet. "Everyone, I'd like you to say hi to…"

He pulled the sheet off, revealing a rather menacing-looking robot with an almost beak-like face.

"Ultron!" Giant Man finished, prompting the crowd to murmur amongst themselves and snap photos of the machine.

Derrick clenched his fist. It may look different, but to him, this "Ultron" could be just a glorified Sentinel.

"We built Ultron to give some more brute force to the Avengers," Iron Man explained. "He's made completely from adamantium."

"Adamantium is an indestructible metal," Giant Man explained. "If anyone knows Wolverine from the X-Men, it's what his claws are made of."

"And have you told the X-Men about this?" asked one reporter.

"No, actually," Iron Man answered. "They're dealing with a crisis in Nova Roma at the moment, something about a mutant named Apocalypse. Besides, Wolverine didn't exactly trademark adamantium, did he?"

"Ultron's adamantium body gives him enhanced strength, speed, agility, and durability," Giant Man explained. "He can also shoot concussive energy blasts, like my tin-plated billionaire friend here who felt more like spending his money on rich guy things than funding Ultron."

"Ha, ha, so funny," Iron Man groaned. "Back to Ultron's abilities. He can fly, like myself, Falcon, Warbird, and Thor. Anyone have one more question before we activate him?"

Derrick was about to ask a question, dsiring to know if Ultron would hunt mutants, but another person cut him off.

"How can we be sure Ultron won't turn on you and attack us?" the civilian asked.

"That won't happen," Giant Man assured. "Ultron was programmed with my brain waves, and his primary programming drives him to create peace throughout the world. And, for anyone wondering, he'll only be targeting _dangerous _mutants, not _all _of them. All right, everyone ready? Iron Man, fire him up!"

"That…sounded a little wrong," Iron Man pointed out, though he did press a button on his wrist.

With that press of a button, Ultron came to life. His eyes and mouth began to glow a blood red, and the android's head turned as it looked at the crowd before it.

"Greetings," said the machine. "I am Ultron, and I absolutely refuse to accept any jokes relating to the Star Wars character of C-3PO."

"Like I said, he's programmed with my brain waves," chuckled Giant Man.

Ultron gazed upon the crowd around him, then, to the horror and shock of the two Avengers, fired a red blast of energy into the crowd.

"Ultron, what are you doing?!" Iron Man yelled. "You're supposed to _protect _these people!"

"No, Iron Man," Ultron countered, "no such initiative exists in my programming. My programming states that I must keep peace throughout the planet. Thus, I have concluded that there is a 100% chance that the world will be peaceful if it is no longer plagued by flesh creatures."

"Target the mutants, not us!" snapped a mutant hater from the crowd.

"Mutant, human, it makes no difference," Ultron replied, shooting the same mutant hater with another energy blast. "Both are merely types of flesh creatures, and as such must be eliminated."

"Stop _now_, Ultron!" Giant Man shouted as Iron Man encouraged the people to evacuate, though Derrick was mysteriously gone. "I won't let you harm these people!"

"You are my father, Dr. Pym," Ultron droned, "but would you force me to go against my programming? You, Dr. Pym, have become an obstacle."

Ultron aimed one palm at Giant Man, preparing to fire another energy blast.

"And all obstacles must be removed," Ultron threatened, but before the android could attack, he suddenly felt power draining from him. "Wha…what? Losing…power…power at 80%...75%...68%..."

"What in the…?" Iron Man stammered, looking around to find Derrick draining Ultron's electricity from his leg. "Kid, get out of here!"

"Oh, sure, discriminate against the mutant," Derrick snapped as he continued to drain Ultron's power.

"It's too dangerous!" Giant Man insisted, growing to a massive size.

"Doesn't stop you, now does it?" Derrick retorted.

"Enough!" Ultron cried, kicking Derrick away, the electrokinetic landing on a trash can roughly a mile away. "Power level at 30%...no matter, I still have enough energy to destroy my creators."

Ultron quickly struck Giant Man with a blast of energy, knocking him off balance. Iron Man flew at the android, only to be stopped by an uppercut punch that sent the armored Avenger flying into Giant Man, knocking the massive man over completely.

"Diverting 20% of all power to concussive blasters," Ultron droned, aiming at the fallen heroes. "Farewell, my fathers."

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Ultron from behind. The robot turned to see Derrick, still quite a distance away but holding himself up by the trash can.

"If they're both your fathers, does that make the both of them gay?" Derrick asked.

"Hey!" the two heroes snapped.

"Insolent child!" Ultron roared, aiming at Derrick. "I will end _your_ disease-inducing existence first!"

"Not if we can help it!" Iron Man cried, hitting Ultron in the back with a missile. Ultron, however, was barely damaged.

"Nothing…but a flesh wound," the android said.

"Giant Man, have you been watching Monty Python?" Iron Man asked. "Ultron _does_ have your brain waves."

"Hey, it's a hilarious show!" Giant Man countered. "Besides, right now we've got to put our renegade creation down!"

"But you will not," Ultron said, hitting them both with his lasers, "because _you _are the ones that _I _will put down."

Over at the trash can, Derrick raised up his hands as they crackled with electricity.

"Okay, have to try something new," the mutant said.

With that, Derrick shoved his hands down while discharging bolts of electricity from them. Essentially catapulting himself into the air, Derrick flung himself toward Ultron, latching onto the android's head with a loud clang and draining the mechanical menace's power once again.

"No! I…am the…mighty Ultron!" Ultron protested. "I cannot…be…de…feat…ed…"

The red in Ultron's eyes and mouth faded, and the renegade machine collapsed onto the wooden platform.

"Whew," Iron Man breathed. "That was a close call. Thanks, kid. Ever think about joining the—"

Iron Man's offer was cut short when the two Avengers noticed that Derrick was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Giant Man asked.

"No clue," Iron Man replied, "but right now, we've got to take what's left of Ultron into S.H.I.E.L.D custody. They're more than likely going to want to look at him to see what went wrong. Contact Wonder Man, let's bring this guy in."

"We're giving him another initiation, aren't we?" Giant Man asked.

"You bet," Iron Man answered.

****

Derrick had disappeared into an alley. The mutant looked back at the heroes and their fallen creation as he walked, knowing that Ultron would no longer have the possibility of bringing harm to any mutants…

…at least, he hoped that was the case.


	6. Cloak and Dagger Tactics

**DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris is mine. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer belongs to Red Witch, and so does the Misfitverse that this fic is set in. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 6: Cloak and Dagger Tactics

A day later, Derrick sat in another alley, staring at the cars speeding along the outside highway. With a sigh, he stood.

"As if the X-Men, Magneto, and the Misfits weren't bad enough," Derrick muttered to himself. "After yesterday, I might have the Avengers on my tail, too."

He looked down at a cat digging through a trash can.

"Well, I did need to make sure that Ultron nutcase didn't start imitating the Sentinels," he continued, "and if I saved some non-mutants in the process, so what? I'm not exactly going to make a career out of it, like the X-Idiots."

Derrick wandered out of the alley, but atop a rooftop, two figures watched him leave. One was female with blonde hair, and wore a slightly immodest white body suit. The other was almost completely shrouded in a dark cloak, though a dark-skinned face was visible underneath the hood.

"That's him, right?" asked the girl.

"I am certain of it, Dagger," replied the hooded man. "The darkness emanating from that boy is strong. I can feel it."

"He's almost as moody as you are, Cloak," Dagger joked.

"It's like I told you when we first met the Misfits," Cloak said. "I'm a living shadow, it goes with the territory."

"Okay, whatever," Dagger shrugged. "Let's just go make sure he won't blow up the world or something."

Dagger stepped into Cloak's now-billowing shroud, and the two vigilantes phased through the roof, reappearing in front of Derrick.

"What the hell?!" the mutant cried, charging his hands with electricity.

"Calm yourself, Derrick," Cloak advised.

"Yeah, we're not associated with _any _mutant group," Dagger added. "Give us a sec, we'll explain everything."

****

"Some nerve that walking battery has," Althea grumbled as she left the Pit's infirmary.

"Althea, he didn't know any better," pointed out Lina Chakram, alias Dragonfly. "Remember how my brother acted when he took Cover Girl hostage? He thought I was being held prisoner here. Derrick probably thought the same thing about the rest of us. He's scared of the Joes."

"Yeah," Althea said with a nod. "I remember how everyone in the Pit gave my Toddles the creeps when he first got here. Either way, Derrick still had no right to talk about G.I. Joe that way."

"You mean, the way _we _talked about them when _we _first wound up here?" Pietro quipped. "I don't see a whole lot of difference."

"Shut up, Pietro," Wanda snapped, promptly using a hexbolt to launch her brother into a wall.

"Derrick's going to need a little time," Fred advised. "When I get angry, and I can see Derrick was _really _angry, I need a little time alone. Derrick's going to need a _lot _of time alone."

"Yeah, Fred's right," Lance agreed. "That's probably why he was screaming for everyone to leave him alone. We'll probably have an easier time of recruiting him if he's a little calmer."

"Point taken," Althea nodded. "Okay, we'll give him a wide berth for now, but he starts causing trouble, we'll recruit him whether he likes it or not."

****

"Let me get this straight," Derrick said to Cloak and Dagger. "The two of you got mutant powers through drugs."

"Right," Dagger nodded.

"Which means you don't have X-Genes, right?" Derrick asked.

Cloak shook his head.

"We do, actually," Dagger said, "the Mutant Growth Hormone just woke them up."

"So what does this have to do with me?" Derrick asked.

"There is a powerful darkness in you," Cloak said.

"Yeah, I'm ticked off 24/7," Derrick rolled his eyes. "Blame everyone and their grandma trying to recruit me."

"We saw your skirmishes with Magneto and Ultron," Dagger said. "And we heard what you think about the X-Men. We know about a mutant team that—"

"If you're going to recommend the Misfits, don't," Derrick interrupted. "I already turned them down."

"Oh," Dagger said. "Why, though? They don't seem that bad."

"Oh, don't get me started on them, Dagger," Derrick growled. "They might seem like ordinary mutants, but they're just G.I. Joe's pet super-soldiers. Not much more than that. Plus, they're out of their freaking minds. They went to Los Angeles once, and ended up completely decimating a street while taking on some random gang. Seriously, do you _think _I would want to join up with insane people like that?"

Cloak and Dagger looked at each other for a moment.

"This is an…interesting revelation," Cloak remarked.

"They actually seemed nice when we met them," Dagger added. "Wavedancer and Toad are dating, you know."

"Really?" Derrick asked, genuinely confused. "I thought army people were trained to have no emotions whatsoever, especially towards fellow soldiers."

"It seems you were wrong," Cloak pointed out.

"Learn something new every day, right?" Dagger smiled. "Well, we'll be on our way now. Nice meeting you, Derrick, even though you won't talk much about yourself."

"Trust me," Derrick said, "the less you know about what I've gone through, the more likely you'll be able to sleep at night."

"There is no amount of torture I can't endure," Cloak said.

"We shall see about that," a voice said from behind Cloak and Dagger.

Derrick looked behind the two and saw something that made his eyes narrow. The two vigilantes turned to see it as well, and while Dagger's eyes widened at their visitor, Cloak's hooded face showed no expression.

Magneto was floating a short distance away from the trio.

"Hello again, Derrick," Magneto smirked. "I did say I would return."


	7. Magnets and Daggers and Cloaks, Oh My!

**Round two with Magneto, this time with Cloak and Dagger!**

**DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris belongs to me. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer belongs to Red Witch, and so does the Misfitverse this fic is set in. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 7: Magnets and Daggers and Cloaks, Oh My!

"Magneto," Derrick growled. "And I thought the X-Men were persistent."

"He _is _a major mutant psycho," Dagger pointed out. "They do tend to not take a hint."

"Don't believe I never noticed your escapades, Cloak and Dagger," Magneto said. "Why not put your mutant talents to good use?"

"You mean," Dagger said, forming several knife-shaped light constructs in her hand, "like _this_?"

Dagger threw the knives at Magneto, who merely used a manhole to block them. Magneto then used his powers to launch the manhole at the trio in a manner similar to the way one would throw a Frisbee. Derrick shot a bolt of lightning at the manhole, blasting it out of the air. He then followed up with a second bolt directed at Magneto, but this time, the lightning had little effect on the master of magnetism.

"Wha—oh, crap," Derrick muttered.

"Do you honestly believe that I would not have learned from my mistakes and insulated my armor against your electricity?" Magneto asked. "Truly, you—ARGH!"

Magneto was interrupted by Cloak forming from nowhere behind Magneto, drawing the magnetically-powered mutant into a dark vortex within his cloak. Magneto barely managed to fly out in time, pulling various blunt metal objects to his side.

"Now I am rather upset," Magneto growled.

"As if you're the only one," Derrick snarled.

In a blink of an eye, Magneto flung a pair of lampposts at Cloak and Dagger, binding the two and lifting them into the air. Recognizing the need for quick action, Derrick used his lightning to launch himself again, drawing back his fist as he shot through the air...directly at Magneto.

"What?!" cried Magneto, quickly finding himself a victim of an electrically-powered punch.

His concentration broken yet again, Magneto dropped Cloak and Dagger. Both his captives landed roughly, their heads banging against the pavement almost as hard as their bodies. Magneto slowly rose, and Derrick clenched his fists again.

"There's plenty more where that punch came from," Derrick spat. "Are you going to leave me alone, now?!"

"You are quite lucky my Acolytes are stretched thin at the moment," Magneto sneered, another of his floating metal balls coming out of the sky, "seeking those worthy to join my cause. As potentially powerful as you are, Derrick, you may not be worth the effort. Besides, one way or another…"

Magneto levitated himself into his metallic orb.

"All mutants will come to my side, and rise above humanity," Magneto finished, the orb enveloping him and sailing back to whence it came.

"Gee, now why don't I like the sound of that?" Derrick asked himself sarcastically. He then turned to Cloak and Dagger. "You two all right?"

"D-dagger…do you remember?" Cloak mumbled. "The young ones…"

"Yeah…yeah, I remember them!" Dagger said, eyes widening. "Oh, God, I bet they think we betrayed them!"

"…what exactly are you talking about?" Derrick asked.

"Dagger and I suffered hard blows to the head when Magneto dropped us," Cloak explained, slipping out of his bonds and phasing Dagger out of hers. "The blow restored our memories of a group of runaway children, previously erased by a pair of telepathic mutants working for a group called 'the Pride'."

"Those nutjobs from LA?" Derrick asked.

"The one and the same," Dagger nodded. "We promised the kids we'd send someone as backup, but since they had to take the Pride out by themselves, Cloak and I will be going to LA to patch things up."

"Farewell, Derrick," said Cloak, shroud billowing again as Dagger walked into it. "May our paths cross again."

Derrick merely raised a hand as he turned and left, having no desire to watch Cloak fade through the pavement again. After draining electricity from a payphone to recharge, Derrick continued his travels through the back-alleys and streets of New York, wondering why in the world no one could simply leave him alone. Really, how hard would it be?

****

Night washed over New York. The stars twinkled in the sky as the light from the moon took on a somewhat lesser version of the sun's role. Some cars still roamed the streets, intent on returning home.

But the cars were not all that was roaming that night.

Inside an electronics shop, the owner was about to close up. He shoved the cash register's drawer shut, and was about to leave when he heard a ringing bell.

"Sorry," he said, "we're about to close. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

No response.

The man turned and saw his guest. The person in question appeared to be a rather tall man, though with the black trenchcoat and hood shrouding him, it was virtually impossible to see any discerning details.

"Can I…help you with anything?" asked the owner nervously.

A mouth opened within the hood, and the shop's owner gasped.

The teeth were yellow, and had pointed fangs.

"What the--?!" the shop owner screamed, stumbling back. "Y-you must be a mutant!"

The supposed mutant lunged, an eerily pale white hand reaching out from under the coat. The owner ducked behind his counter, just in time to see clawed fingernails slice through the cash register, destroying it in an instant.

"St-stay away!" stuttered the register. "Mutie freak!"

The creature again made no vocal response, but it then did something extraordinary. The supposed mutant dug its claws into the front of the counter, and with an inhuman growl, lifted the counter above its head. The owner, paralyzed with fear, scooted backwards on his rear end until his back met the wall.

The monster threw the counter aside, allowing it to smash into pieces. It then turned back to the shop owner, who was still frightened beyond belief.

"Wh-wh-wh-what are you?!" stammered the owner.

And this time the creature responded.

"Hungry," it said.

And then it lunged once more.

****

**Before anyone asks, I'm well aware that I keep having Magneto get taken down easily. It's just fun to humiliate him by having one electric mutant kick his butt all the time. Sorry if anyone has problems with it.**

**Oh, and about our monstrous newcomer at the end? He's going to play a big part in a story arc that I've been intending to write ever since BFTD was in the "development" stages. Hope everyone who reads this likes it!**


	8. And Some More Plots Spinning

**DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer belongs to Red Witch, as does the Misfitverse this fic is set in. Everything else (except Dracula, I think) belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 8: And Some More Plot Spinning

The _Daily Bugle_, New York's local newspaper, was well-known for its accusatory jabs at the hero calling himself Spider-Man. This, in truth, was on account of the editor-in-chief having a hatred for the web-slinger that no one save himself understood.

"PARKER!"

And that same editor made certain that the _Bugle_'s offices never experienced a quiet day.

A teenager with brown hair and glasses barged into the room, gasping for breath.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Jameson?" asked Peter Parker, photographer for the _Bugle_.

"Who else would I want to see, the Avengers?" snapped the flat-haired J. Jonah Jameson. "Anyway, Parker, another vampire attack happened last night! That makes it the fourth one this week and the ninth one this month! I need you to get down there and get some photos of the latest victim, and maybe some of the police investigation, too! Anything to discredit that blasted wall-crawler!"

"Okay, sir," Peter nodded, despite Jameson's shots at his alter-ego.

****

News of the vampire attacks had spread over New York rather quickly. Even the Xavier Institute caught wind of the news, one member in a particular rage. Having once dated Dracula himself, this member of the X-Men found herself staring at the television.

"I can't believe this!" growled white-haired Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm. "I thought Dracula would know better than to indiscriminately attack people like this!"

"A vampire's a vampire, Storm," Logan said simply.

"We may have to take action," Xavier said. "Kitty is still recovering from when she lost control of her abilities. Logan, I'll want you to stay here and keep an eye on her."

"Better than puttin' up with the kids' insanity," Logan muttered.

"Ororo," Xavier said, turning to the African-American woman, "I'm afraid you will have to go, as you know Dracula best. Rina and Scott will accompany you."

"Rina can track him and I can blast him," Scott nodded. "That makes sense."

"We move out tonight," Xavier stated. "For now, we prepare. This _is _one of the quieter days in the Institute."

A loud explosion quickly proved Xavier wrong.

"You were sayin', Chuck?" Logan said.

****

News of the vampire attacks had quickly spread over New York, but there were places where such news was only briefly heard. One such city was across the entire country.

Within the bowels of Los Angeles, California, a lair beneath the La Brea Tar Pits Museum was no different. Four teenagers and one eleven-year-old gathered around a table, a game of Monopoly in its preparation stages.

"I call the dog!" cried a brown-haired eleven-year-old girl wearing a pink hat.

"Whatever, Mol," replied a blonde-haired teenager whose shirt claimed that he did his own stunts. "I'm taking the shot glass."

"Chase, honey, that's not a shot glass," corrected a purple-haired girl with glasses, "that's a thimble."

"Figures," groaned Chase Stein. "I can't believe we've got a broken time machine in this joint—all thanks to Trinity and Spyder from those psycho Misfits—and we don't have one freakin' bottle of—"

"Hey, no fair, K!" snapped the eleven-year-old. "I called the dog!"

"Molly, I was getting it for you," replied Karolina Dean.

"Oh," Molly Hayes said. "Sorry."

"This is what we do when there's nobody making a move for the power vacuum," groaned a girl with black hair tied in a wild ponytail. "Play Monopoly and get into fights about the pieces."

"Better than nothing to do," Dagger's voice rang.

In an instant, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Molly Hayes, Karolina Dean and Gertrude "Gert" Yorkes sprang from the tables, Gert's brown dinosaur named Old Lace quickly bounding to their aid. Cloak and Dagger warped out of nowhere, standing in front of the group.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" a mechanical voice echoed. "BE ADVISED. SECURITY DAEMONS ACTIVE."

"You talking to me?" Chase asked.

"What's a 'security daemon'?" Karolina asked.

With a _poof_, several creatures resembling a hybrid between a bat and a pink-nosed wolf appeared on the table.

"Guess there's no such thing as a quiet game of Monopoly where the super-powered are concerned," Nico said. She then lightly pricked her finger with a switchblade, and began to speak strangely. "**When ****blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge!**"

Nico pointed her staff at the daemons.

"Sorry, everybody," she said. "This looks like one of my parents' old defense spells. **Acid rain!**"

With the staff's magic, a dark cloud appeared over one daemon's head, releasing a stream of acidic raindrops onto it, melting it near-instantly.

"You sure, Nico?" Molly asked, eyes glowing pink as she punched a daemon, the result being the daemon sailing into and through a wall. "These guys might be mutants, you know!"

"I doubt it," Gert said as Old Lace chewed up a daemon, revealing sparkling machinery, "unless mutants are normally born with internal organs of steel."

"I know Mol's got _fists _of steel," Chase agreed, incinerating a daemon with fire from his metallic gauntlets. "Besides, these are just my folks' gizmos. Nothing to freak out over."

"Wow," Dagger said, eyes wide. "You guys have gotten a lot better than when we last saw you."

"Yes, my friends," Cloak agreed. "Your skills have matured exponentially."

"Save the 'friends' bull, Spooky," Chase spat, Fistigon gloves still at the ready.

"Yeah," Gert nodded, Old Lace growling, "last time we met, you guys promised to send us backup. We ended up having to take on the Pride _by ourselves_."

"Blame your elders," Cloak responded.

"A couple of your parents erased our memories of you just as we were about to head back to New York," Dagger explained. "We're not here to fight, honest. We just want to make things right with you guys."

"Right," Nico said skeptically. "We'll think about it. After all, we don't have a lot to do as of late."

"Perhaps I can change that?" a Romanian-accented voice came from the shadows.

A bat suddenly flapped down from the ceiling, but to the surprise of all present, it morphed into a man in a suit with a flowing cape.

"Cool!" Molly cried.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Nico demanded, aiming her staff at the latest newcomer.

"I am Dracula," the man said. "Oh, and could you please keep the blonde girl away from me? I have issues with sunlight."

"Seriously?" Chase said. "You're Dracula?"

"Yes, the very same," Dracula sighed. "Can we please get on with business?"

"That kind of depends on what that business is, actually," Karolina said.

"If that 'business' is biting people, try someone else," Dagger said, holding some light knives.

"I…need your help," Dracula said.

"With what?" Chase snapped.

"In New York, a vampire has been going around attacking people," Dracula explained. "And, for future reference, I have been nowhere near there in months. I wanted to clear my name, so I came to the famed children of the Pride to ask for help."

"How come you can't ask the X-Men or somebody?" Molly asked.

"Er…I have had…how shall I say, uh, 'differences' with one or two X-Men," Dracula admitted, remembering his date with Storm. "I came to you because I heard that you…how does the expression go? Take what adults say with a grain of sugar."

"Salt," Gert corrected. "And we do, which is why we're not a hundred percent with you."

"If I was going to bite any of you, I would have done it already," Dracula sighed.

"Never thought I'd say something like this, but Drac's got a point," Dagger said.

"If someone is impersonating him," Cloak said, "he merely wishes to clear his name."

"So how exactly do we get there?" Nico asked.

"I'm not sure the Leapfrog can handle cross-country," Chase said, jabbing a thumb at a large device resembling a mechanical frog.

"I can provide transportation," Cloak offered.

"Thank you, but I already have something in mind," Dracula said, removing a bottle of powder from his cloak. "I had an old friend of mine make this dust. It can take us to New York instantly."

"Eh, beats flying America West," Gert said.

****

**I didn't want Cloak to bring the Runaways to New York, so I had Dracula get his magic bottle of dust. Just to clear things up if anyone's wondering.**


	9. Mutant Conversation

**DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer belongs to Red Witch, along with the Misfitverse this fic is set in. Everything else (minus Dracula) belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 9: Mutant Conversation

Evening fell on New York once again. Though often it was rare to find life amongst the darkened city, tonight was an exception. Scott Summers, Rina Logan, and Ororo Munroe prowled the streets in their search for Dracula.

"Keep a sharp eye out," Scott cautioned. "This is Dracula's time of night. He has the advantage."

Rina was at the head of the group, sniffing repeatedly, with Scott and Ororo trailing behind. As Logan's services were required to make certain that no harm came to the uncontrollably intangible Kitty Pryde, the process of elimination selected his young clone as a replacement. Though secretly hoping to find Derrick, Rina nevertheless sought out the vampire responsible for the recent attacks.

Rina paused, sniffing the air. A unique scent had entered her nostrils…a scent radiating with the emotions of anger and bitterness. Another smell, this one fainter, confirmed her hopeful suspicions…the smell of air heated by electricity.

She had not found Dracula, but instead had found Derrick.

"Stay here," Rina barked to Scott and Ororo, quickly bounding down an alley before either could catch up with her.

"Rina, wait!" Scott called.

"What has gotten into her?" Ororo asked.

"No idea," Scott said with a shake of his head. "We can't spend all night hunting her down, though. We'll have to contact the Professor and see if we can have him mentally scan for Dracula."

****

Derrick used an electrically-charged hand to guide his way through the dark alleys. He needed to find a place to sleep. That was all he wanted at the moment.

He sighed. Until he could find the special place he wanted, the place where he could just be alone, he had to use New York as his home. When would that day come?

A trash can behind him fell, and the mutant spun around, illuminating the alley. There, standing by the trash can, was none other than Rina Logan, alias X-23.

"Sorry," said Rina, "did I startle you?"

"Yeah," Derrick replied, "a little."

"You're Derrick, right?" Rina asked.

"I'm not joining the X-Men," Derrick growled, drawing back his hand as it surged with even more electricity. "Why don't you people just give up?!"

"Wait!" Rina cried. "I'm not going to ask you to stay at the Institute!"

Derrick hesitated, though he still kept his hands ready to cast out lightning.

"Is that so?" he said skeptically.

Rina nodded.

"I was told about what happened when you met the others," Rina explained. "Log…Wolverine said that you remind him of myself when he first met me."

"You're X-23," Derrick said simply, "Wolverine's clone."

"Just call me Rina," said Rina, shaking her head. "I didn't come here to recruit you against your will. I wanted to meet you, to see if you're…well…like me."

"That's all?" Derrick asked, slumping down against a wall.

"That's all," said Rina as she sat opposite Derrick. "So, what's your story?"

"You're better off not knowing," Derrick responded. "From what I've heard, your list of traumatic images is long enough."

"Try me," Rina said defiantly, crossing her arms.

Derrick looked Rina in the eye, and then turned his head away.

"I'm…not sure if I'm comfortable talking about it," Derrick said hesitantly.

"Look," said Rina, "over at the Institute, I've been going through therapy designed for mutants who survived experimentation. If there's anything I learned there, it's that you have to get your problems out into the open. Otherwise, it'll just keep eating at you.

Derrick stared at the ground for a moment. The memories were rushing through his mind. He squinted his eyes shut, the emotional pain tearing at him. Rina…was right.

"My life was generally all right up until I turned thirteen, which is when this happened," Derrick began, holding up one sparkling hand. "Then everything just shot downhill."

"Do you blame your powers for that?" Rina asked.

"Eh, not really," Derrick shrugged. "I don't see being a walking power line as a curse, but I don't see it as a gift, either. It's just something I have to live with, not something that makes me mope like a classic emo or jump for joy like a freaking caffeinated rabbit."

"How come you don't want to take a side?" Rina asked. "You're clearly not a coward, from what I've seen on the news, so why do you prefer staying out of any mutant-related conflict?"

"Given what I have to choose from, not choosing is the best choice," Derrick said. "No offense."

"None taken," Rina said with a slight smile. "I can actually understand where you're coming from."

"How?" Derrick asked.

"Let's just say that there's no such thing as a quiet day at the Institute," Rina groaned, shaking her head. "The Misfits are even worse, and Magneto happens to be evil. Honestly, I can't blame you for not wanting to pick a side."

"That's nice to know," Derrick sighed. "Now if only your uptight teammate Cyclops could even _remotely _grasp that concept."

"I'm actually good at the Danger Room sessions he has us do," Rina said.

"The what?" Derrick asked, having never heard of the Danger Room.

"Oh, it's a training room the X-Men have in the mansion," Rina explained. "It has weapons of all kinds in it. Wolverine and I are the best at it, unless we're on level 30. Then we have some trouble."

"Sounds like a barrel of fun," Derrick said with a roll of his eyes. "Since we got on the topic of you, how about we keep going?"

"Well, I…guess I can talk about it," Rina said slowly.

"Can't be worse than what I've gone through," Derrick shrugged.

"Okay…as you know, I was a clone of Wolverine," Rina began. "Hydra made me to be their weapon. They even put me through the same process that gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton…and gave me these."

A pair of claws sprouted from her hands, and a spike-like blade emerged from each of her feet.

"Ouch," Derrick winced.

"I was twelve when they did that," Rina continued. "All my life I've been trained to block out emotion, to be a hardened assassin. They kept me isolated from other people…put me through training all the time…no matter what."

She lowered her head.

"No one should have to go through that," Rina sighed.

"You're right," Derrick said. "But no one experimented on you," he added in a low voice.

Rina's head shot up, eyes wide.

"You were experimented on?!" she nearly roared.

"Yeah," Derrick said, still in a low voice. "It was a week after my powers showed up. It's…it's hard to forget…knives and needles…nearly getting dissected…no anesthetic…"

At this point, Rina looked as though she would explode from anger.

"I'd show you the scar," Derrick said, having managed to spring from his quieter tone, "but that would probably be too much for both of us."

"I'll say," Rina growled.

"What's worse is who did it," Derrick continued. "You'll never guess who the happy little psychos who tried to mutilate me are."

He paused, Rina staring at him. And then he said two words.

"My parents."

Rina's jaw dropped.

"Your _parents _tried to experiment on you?!" she cried.

"They worked for one of those classic army corporations," Derrick explained, though his calm and confident demeanor was gone, replaced by a cracking voice and a sudden interest in the ground, "the kind that use mutants as their biology projects. My parents were scientists who 'studied' mutants."

He glared hard at Rina.

"You can figure out the rest," he snarled.

"So…how did you escape?" Rina asked.

"My powers went crazy during the experiment," Derrick answered. "Everything was getting electrocuted…my parents, the machinery, and other mutants in the room. By the time everything died down…I was the only one who wasn't…dead. I've been afraid of fatally electrocuting someone ever since."

"So that's why you ran off after you shocked Wavedancer," Rina realized.

"I shocked her in the first place because…well, I'm hydrophobic," Derrick said. "I fell in a swimming pool when I was two. Nearly drowned. Funny thing is, my so-called parents actually cared about me back then."

He gave Rina a bitter smirk.

"Irony's a funny thing," he said.

"So…that's why you're so set against the Misfits?" Rina asked. "Because they work for the army?"

"No, it's just a fairly big reason," Derrick answered. "The main reasons are that G.I. Joe took the Brotherhood and brainwashed them."

"I've met G.I. Joe," Rina retorted. "They might be with the army, but they're not the type of people who do that."

"Not that I don't trust you, but I'll believe that when I see it," Derrick said.

"You actually trust me?" Rina asked, almost amused.

"Eh, you're all right," Derrick shrugged. "You're better than Cyclops or Storm, at least."

"They were actually with me before I found you," Rina said. "We were trying to track down…"

She paused, sniffing the air.

"What?" Derrick said.

"We're not alone," Rina growled, releasing her hand claws.

"So it would seem," a Greek-accented voice said from above them.

The pair looked up, and the vampire who attacked the shop owner crouched on a rooftop above them.

"The people seem to mistake me for a mutant," the vampire said.

"Are you?" Derrick asked.

"No," replied the creature, leaping down from the rooftop. "Just hungry."

The monstrous creature grinned, revealing his fangs.

"Wait, you're not Dracula!" Rina cried.

"You were expecting maybe Charlton Heston?" the vampire asked with a smirk.

"Dracula?" Derrick asked.

"Long story short, we met the real Dracula when he tried to date Storm," Rina explained.

"And I thought my life was weird," Derrick muttered.

"You're not the only one," Rina added.

"I have never drunk mutant blood before," the vampire said. "There's a first time for everything, I suppose."


	10. A Round of Fighting

**DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. The Misfitverse belongs to Red Witch, and so does Althea Delgado/Wavedancer. Everything else (minus Dracula) belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 10: A Round of Fighting

"So you're the vampire that's been attacking people," Rina said.

"How observant of you, little girl," said the vampire.

"Do little girls have _these_?" Rina snarled, showing the vampire her claws.

"X-Men do," the vampire said. "I have heard of you, X-23, as well as your mutant compatriots. Is he one of them?"

"Like hell," Derrick spat, charging his hands with electricity.

"No matter," said the vampire. "X-Men, unaffiliated, it makes no difference."

The vampire lunged, but Derrick shot it in the face with a bolt of electricity. The vampire tumbled back, rolling into a trash can, which promptly fell on top of it.

"Nice aim," Rina commented.

"Yeah, I've had years of practice," Derrick said nonchalantly.

The vampire rose quickly, managing to levitate into the air before charging once more at the two mutants. This time, Rina leapt off of a wall and kicked the vampire, slamming it into the opposite wall. She back-flipped off, landing next to Derrick.

"That came from your training?" Derrick asked, preparing one of his electrical orbs.

"I'm not proud of it," Rina retorted. "Here he comes again!"

The vampire rose, and before charging at the two mutants again, he released a mighty howl of rage into the sky.

****

"Holy crap," said Gert. "Our job _sucks_."

The Runaways, along with Count Dracula, were watching the scene unfold from across the street. Karolina's hand was on her bracelet, ready to tear it off at any moment. Strangely, Gert's dinosaur Old Lace was not present.

"That must be the creature who has been impersonating me!" Dracula cried. "He must be stopped!"

"Why?" Nico snapped. "Do you just want to fix your reputation, or do you want to actually do the right thing?"

"Either way, we end up doing his dirty work," Chase added bitterly.

"The second one, Nico," Dracula sighed. "I can't fight this vampire. He is clearly more powerful than I am, since he's taken more blood than I have over the years."

"Those mutants are doing awesome!" Molly cried as Derrick and Rina continued to battle the other vampire. "Eat it, you stupid fakey bat-guy!"

"I'm standing right here, Molly," Dracula said.

"I know I'm out of this fight," Gert sighed. "Nice mode of transport, Drac. Since Old Lace sneezed when you used the dust, we don't know where she is. Real nice."

"How many times do I have to apologize?" sighed Dracula. "Karolina, would you mind getting this over with?"

"Okay, sure," said the second-oldest Runaway, removing her bracelet.

In an instant, her body became alight with rainbow-like energy, an energy that made Dracula cringe. Karolina flew up into the air, and with a jab of her arm, fired a single bolt of solar energy at the vampire, hitting him hard enough to send him to the ground.

"Great, more people," Derrick groaned.

"Wait a minute," Rina paused. "You're those people from LA, right? The Runaways?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Chase asked.

"We were on the _national news_, Chase," Nico said. "Who _doesn't _know us?"

Derrick raised his hand.

"Besides you," Gert said.

"That seems to have taken care of my imposter," Dracula observed, noting the seemingly vacant trenchcoat on the ground.

"Wrong," said the familiar Greek-accented voice from within the cloak.

The trenchcoat rose, still concealing the vampire. The hood had fallen, revealing a gaunt face with red eyes and wild powder blue hair. The vampire smiled his yellow-fanged smile as his boiled and burned skin slowly healed itself.

"What?!" Dracula cried. "But how?! Any vampire would have been incinerated by sunlight! There…there must be some mistake! You…you're some sort of false vampire!"

"Not a _false_ vampire, dear Dracula," smirked the man as he finished healing. "I am a _living _vampire."

"Wait, a living vampire?" Nico said with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that an oxymoron? Vampires are undead, mostly live in Transylvania, and feed off the blood of the living. How exactly can you be a living vampire?"

"Well," began the vampire, but Chase cut him off.

"Yeah, Nico's right," Chase said. "I'm not the monster expert like she is, and even I know that."

"As I was saying," began the vampire again, but this time Derrick cut him off.

"Great," he said, "first this guy goes around giving mutants a bad name, and now he gets a stupid title."

"WILL YOU JUST LET ME FINISH?!" roared the vampire.

No words were spoken.

"Thank you!" the vampire sighed. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Michael Morbius. Or, at least I _was_."

"What do you mean?" Molly asked. "Are you a mutant, too?"

"Why does everyone say that?" Morbius sighed. "No, little one, I am not a mutant. My vampiric abilities are the result of a blood transfusion experiment. How I came to the conclusion that the experiment would cure me of my blood disease, I will never know."

"So why'd you start biting people?" Gert asked.

"Because I am now a vampire," Morbius replied with a shrug. "It is my destiny to feast upon the living."

He rose into the air again.

"Your appearance here, Dracula, is quite a fortunate turn of events," Morbius said. "If I can defeat you, I can secure myself a place as the greatest vampire of all time. Morbius the living vampire! The greatest of all vampires!"

"Dude, shut up," Chase spat, launching a stream of flame at Morbius. The vampire, however, simply flew away, charging at Dracula with alarming speed.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Rina cried, leaping up and stabbing Morbius in the side with her hand claws.

Growling in pain and anger, both Morbius and Rina tumbled back down into the alley, landing on a rather conveniently large cardboard box. Morbius threw Rina off of him, sending the cloned mutant sailing out of the alley. In retaliation, Derrick threw an electrical orb at Morbius, but the vampire tossed the cardboard box in front of the orb, destroying both at once.

Karolina fired another blast of energy at Morbius, but this time the living vampire dodged it, rocketing towards her and knocking her to the ground. Molly ran at Morbius, eyes glowing pink and a fist drawn back. Morbius simply laughed.

"What can you possibly do?" chuckled the living vampire.

"This!" Molly cried, punching Morbius.

The result stunned nearly everyone present. With one punch, Molly launched Morbius down the street, the living vampire bursting through a lamppost and crashing into a car. Dracula, Derrick, and a recovered Rina's jaws all dropped in unison.

"That was entirely unexpected," Dracula commented.

"Yeah, Molly's a really strong mutant," Karolina commented.

"Aren't you a mutant, too?" Rina asked Karolina.

"Excuse me," Karolina said, crossing her arms, "I'm extraterrestrial…and proud of it, thank you very much."

"Whoa!" another voice cried. "Looks like I missed one heck of a party!"

A man in a red-and-blue costume with webbing patterns etched onto it swung down via webbing, landing in front of the group.

"Spider-Man?" Rina said. "What are you doing here?"

"So you're Spider-Man," Chase said. "Bro, red and blue looks lame on you."

"I wasn't aware you were my fashion consultant," Spider-Man said. "As for you question, X-23, I heard some crazy shenanigans were going on down here. I might have missed the party, but I'm glad I came in time to see a vampire get his butt kicked by an eight-year-old."

"I'm _eleven_, jerk!" Molly snapped. "And I'm a mutant with super-strength, which is like being _twelve _at least!"

"Uh…okay," Spider-Man blinked underneath his mask. Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his head. "Oh, boy."

Spider-Man quickly turned to see a fully-recovered Morbius flying toward them, roaring at the top of his lungs. Spider-Man launched a string of webbing at Morbius, allowing the web to attach to the vampire. Spider-Man then swung around and catapulted Morbius into a building, using his foe's momentum against him and successfully humiliating the living vampire a second time. Morbius peeled off the wall and collapsed into the pavement, finally defeated.

"Well, that was quick," Spider-Man remarked.

"Morbius must have been weakened from a lack of ingested blood," Dracula suggested.

"Dracula!" a familiar voice roared.

"Uh-oh," the vampire paled.

"What's your problem?" Derrick asked.

Storm and Cyclops appeared on the scene with several other X-Men, Scott preparing to fire his optic blast. An X-Man with metallic skin was with him, as were Logan and a red-haired girl.

"I think it's time I tested how well a vampire's body holds electricity!" Ororo growled.

"Er, goodness, look at the time!" Dracula said quickly. "Must be off, good evening!"

Dracula once again turned into a bat, flying off into the night.

"YOU GUANO-BRAIN!" Chase roared. "YOU OWE US A RETURN TRIP, YOU JACK—"

"Quiet!" Rina snapped. She then looked to the X-Men. "Everyone, it's all right! Dracula wasn't responsible for the attacks!"

She pointed to the unconscious body of Morbius.

"He was," Rina finished.

"Who is he?" asked Peter Rasputin, codename Colossus.

"We can ask S.H.I.E.L.D when we turn him over to them," Scott said.

"I can do that," Spider-Man raised his hand. "Don't have much to do tonight, anyway."

"Okay, then, take that vampire to the Avengers headquarters," Scott said. "In the meantime…"

Scott turned to the Runaways and Derrick.

"I think we need to talk," he said.

****

**Can anyone guess what's going to happen next?**


	11. Runaways VS XMen

**DISCLAIMER: I own Derrick Bolris. Cobra and G.I. Joe belong to Hasbro. The Misfitverse this fic is set in belongs to Red Witch, and so do Althea Delgado/Wavedancer, Trinity, and Lina Chakram/Dragonfly. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 11: Runaways VS X-Men

"You're Molly Hayes, right?" Scott said to the young girl as Spider-Man swung away, Morbius hefted onto his shoulder. "You need to come with us."

"What do you want with her?" Nico demanded, preparing to cut herself again.

"Calm down," cautioned the red-haired girl. "My name's Jean Grey. My friends and I are from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. It's where we teach mutants like Molly, people born with—"

"You can drop the condescending tone, lady," Gert snapped. "We _know _what mutants are."

"Hey!" snapped Scott as Rina went to Logan's side. "Jean wasn't trying to be condescending!"

"Funny how things turn out, huh?" Chase smirked.

Derrick stepped back slightly, hoping the X-Men wouldn't notice him. Even if they did, he was prepared. No matter how many times they would come to him, he would always refuse to join them. But was it right to let this young mutant girl be recruited against her will?

"Please," Peter said. "Your comrade belongs in a safe environment, where she can be taught to use her unique powers to help make the world a better place."

"Actually, from what I've heard about Bayville," Karolina interjected, "I don't think it's a really safe environment for mutants."

"Besides," Nico said, "you X-Men have been doing your thing since you were our age. But the world is still as screwed up as it's ever been, in case you haven't noticed."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Give us one good reason why we should turn Molly over to the 'League-of-Those-Who-Can't-Do'," Nico said darkly.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a say in the matter," Ororo said. "You're not Molly's legal guardians."

"Storm's right," Scott agreed. "Molly needs structure and discipline, and she can't get either from a group of runaways."

Molly had little to say. She merely stared at Logan with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Wol…Wolverine?" she stuttered.

"You're not taking her, one-eye!" Chase snapped. "Molly's not just our muscle, she's our friend!"

"Get away from the kid, bub," Logan ordered.

"Can I touch your hair, Wolverine?" Molly asked excitedly. "My friend Karolina says you use gel, but I think it just grows that way 'cause you're a mutant like me! I used to have a poster of you in my bedroom when I was little because you're really cool and—"

Logan lunged at the Runaways, unsheathing his claws.

"GET AWAY FROM THE RUNT!" he roared.

Molly suddenly began to scream, overwhelmed by terror. She screamed so loudly, in fact, that Logan and Rina immediately began clutching their ears.

"Way to go, Wolverine," Scott groaned. "Molly, we're not going to hurt you. We just want you to join the X-Men."

Molly only continued to scream.

"For cryin' out loud, runt, you ever heard of heightened senses?" Logan growled. "Come on, just stop screaming…"

With one final scream, Molly lurched forward and punched Logan in the stomach. With her mutant strength in effect, Logan went soaring into the air, flying clean over a building and completely out of sight.

"Okay, that's it!" Scott said while Rina stared wide-eyed in the direction Molly had punched Logan. "We need to subdue her, now!"

"Not if we can help it!" Nico vowed, again pricking her finger. "**When blood is shed, let the Staff of One emerge!**"

"Guess it's barbecue time!" Chase cried, Fistigons blazing with fire. Behind the Runaways, Derrick charged electricity into his hand.

"Just calm down!" Ororo ordered. "We don't want to have to hurt any of you!"

"Personally," Karolina said, floating into the air as she spoke, "I think you should worry more about yourselves."

Scott fired off an optic blast, but Karolina countered with a beam of her own. The two attacks collided, and a power struggle took place between them. While Karolina and Scott were attempting to outdo each other, the remaining Runaways and X-Men were also dueling.

Chase and Jean briefly stared each other down before the latter made the first move.

"Please, all we want is to help Molly," Jean pleaded. "Just let us help her."

"Let me think about that," Chase said before pointing his fists at Jean immediately afterward. "Uh, no!"

Chase released a massive wave of fire, but Jean managed to contain it in a telekinetic bubble.

"You really shouldn't try and fight a telekinetic," Jean smirked, condensing the bubble and extinguishing the flames. "You never know what they can do with their powers."

Despite Jean's display, Chase still rushed at her, ending up levitating in the air from more of Jean's telekinesis. Jean managed to retain her concentration despite the rumble of thunder from the rapidly darkening sky.

"Stop acting so childishly!" Ororo barked at Nico, eyes glowing. "At least consider the good the X-Men have done!"

"What good?" Nico retorted. "All you've done is get yourselves banned from every place in Bayville. **Sunburst!**"

Nico pointed her staff at Ororo, which then fired an orb of energy greatly resembling the sun. The orb exploded in front of Ororo, sending the X-Woman sprawling across the ground.

"Witch, one," Nico smirked. "Weather witch, zero."

Not all the Runaways and X-Men were fighting, however. Gert simply sat on the sidewalk with her fingers plugged into her ears.

"Wake me when the fight scene's over," she said to no one in particular. "Old Lace, where are you…?"

Derrick looked at Gert on the sidewalk, and then at Rina. The closest thing he had to a friend was looking back and forth between the X-Men and Runaways. Her conversation with Derrick led her to realize that not everyone would want to join the X-Men, regardless of what her teammates would believe. So, she did something that many would consider out of character for her.

"Room for one more?" she asked, sitting next to Gert.

Of course, the X-Men's target was not unattended. Peter towered over the young girl, though Molly was completely undaunted.

"I'm sick of everyone trying to be my freakin' babysitter!" Molly snapped. "I can take care of myself!"

She rammed her fist into Peter's metal side, but it only resulted in her hand being hurt.

"You're a very headstrong little girl," Peter said, "but though the headstrong may win many battles, only the strong of heart will survive the war."

He reached for her.

"Come," he said, "we must return to—"

"Ahem," a voice interrupted.

Peter looked up in time to be struck in the face with a bolt of lightning. Derrick stood a short distance away, electricity crackling through his hand.

"If she doesn't want to join, she doesn't want to join," Derrick said. "Get it through your thick skulls."

"That was so freakin' cool!" Molly cried happily. "Are you a mutant, too?"

"Molly, was it?" Derrick said. "Being a mutant isn't a walk in the park, actually."

"I'm from LA," Molly said. "Not a lot of people hate mutants there. It's a lot better than this stinky city."

"Really?" Derrick asked.

"Yep!" Molly nodded.

"So…can I go back with you?" Derrick asked. Could Los Angeles be the special place he had been looking for?

"I'm gonna have to ask Nico," Molly replied, "but I want you to! You get to freakin' electrify people! That's so cool!"

Karolina suddenly fell next to them, grunting loudly on impact. Chase followed soon after. Nico aimed her staff, Molly put up her fists, and Derrick charged up again.

Their opponents were still ready. Scott adjusted his visor and Jean put her fingertips to her head. Everyone, aside from Gert and Rina, was ready for an all-out brawl.

"_ENOUGH!_" a telepathic voice boomed in the heads of all combatants.

The X-Men, Runaways, and Derrick looked down the street, and found the source of the telepathic cry. Wheeling onto the scene was none other than Charles Xavier himself, with Old Lace in tow.

"Stop fighting immediately," Xavier commanded sternly. "X-Men, I'm very disappointed in all of you."

"Old Lace!" Gert cried, rushing to her dinosaur. "How'd you find her? You're a telepath, right?"

"Indeed I am," Xavier said pleasantly. "But I must confess that I didn't find your dinosaur. Rather, she found me."

Old Lace allowed Xavier to stroke her face.

"You should be proud of Old Lace," Xavier said with a smile. "She's much more intelligent than many people may initially believe. I myself learned quite a bit from her."

He turned to the X-Men.

"For instance," Xavier continued, "when Old Lace found me, she taught me that a search for lost souls could be more successful if one waits for the souls to come of their own accord instead of hunting them down. The next time a new mutant reveals itself, I suggest you all remember that."

"Ye…yeah, okay," Scott sighed. He then turned to the Runaways. "Sorry. I guess we let our job go to our heads."

"I'll say," Derrick snorted.

"If you ever need a favor, simply ask," Xavier offered.

"Well…we do need a ride back to LA, since Dracula copped out on us," Nico said hesitantly.

"Yes, I believe we can arrange that," smiled Xavier.

"Nico, can we bring this guy with us?" Molly asked, pointing to Derrick. "He's a mutant, too! And he fried Colossus' big tin face when he tried to grab me!"

"Molly, don't you remember?" Karolina said. "The last time we brought a boy back to the Hostel, he tried to _eat _us."

"_What_?" Derrick asked, slightly stunned.

"Don't ask," Nico sighed.

****

**We're actually coming close to the end, now. This fic is actually shorter than I thought it would be. Go figure.**


	12. Fall of the Curtain

**Ah...the last chapter. My first Misfitverse fic comes to a close, even though I initially expected it to be longer. Oh, well. Them's the breaks.**

**DISCLAIMER: Derrick Bolris belongs to me. Althea Delgado/Wavedancer, Trinity, and Lina Chakram/Dragonfly belong to Red Witch, along with the Misfitverse this fic takes place in. G.I. Joe and Cobra belong to Hasbro. Everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 12: Fall of the Curtain

The X-Men had agreed to bring the Runaways back to Los Angeles in an effort to gain forgiveness for their actions. With the Runaways and Derrick—who had requested to go—aboard the Blackbird, the X-Men took off. The Runaways were in a group alone, discussing whether or not they should allow Derrick to join with them.

"He took out Colossus to help me!" Molly reminded them.

"The question is 'why'," Nico said.

"I talked to him a little right before we took off," Karolina said. "The X-Men tried to recruit him, but he refused. He didn't want to see Molly get recruited against her will either."

"So?" Chase said. "How can we be sure he won't wind up another Alex?"

The minute Chase finished the sentence, Nico glared hard at him.

"Oh…sorry, Nic," Chase said, wincing. "Please don't turn me into a fish again."

"I say we give him a chance," Karolina suggested. "Take a vote?"

"For!" Molly shouted, raising her hand.

"Against," Chase said.

"Abstain," Nico said.

"Where?" Chase asked, looking down at his shirt.

"She doesn't want to vote, honey," Gert corrected. "Personally, I vote for. Can't be much worse than Topher or you-know-who."

"I vote for, too," Karolina said.

****

As requested, the X-Men dropped off the Runaways in front of the La Brea Tar Pits Museum. Derrick departed the Blackbird as well, Rina waving good-bye as the jet took off. When the jet was out of sight, Derrick remained on the mossy hill near the tar pit. Most of the Runaways went back into their lair, but Nico stayed behind.

"Hey…Derrick?" Nico said.

"What?" Derrick said, sitting cross-legged as he stared at the horizon.

"Want to talk?" Nico asked, sitting next to him.

Derrick hesitated.

"Lot of trauma, huh?" Nico guessed. "You're not the only one."

"What would you know?" Derrick asked. "You're not a mutant. You don't have to put up with the racial crap, since your power is a magic stick in your chest."

"For starters, my parents were evil," Nico said. "And so were all the others' parents. The Pride controlled LA and had a lot of police working for them. We took them out, but what we didn't know was that it would leave behind a power vacuum. Now all of the nutjobs from New York want to fill that vacuum. On top of that, people like the Avengers want to throw us in foster care. So don't tell me my life is awesome. It's not."

"Bet mine's worse," Derrick said with a bitter smirk.

"How?" Nico asked.

"Well, let's see," Derrick began, "I was experimented on by my parents when they found out I was a mutant, I accidentally killed them and everything else in the room, and I had to deal with racism in New York before I met you guys. Top that."

"I was betrayed by someone I loved," Nico said. "He thought his parents were heroes for wanting to wipe out all life in the world."

"Ouch," Derrick winced. "You win."

"Win what?" Nico sighed. "I think our lives are equal in terms of the crap we've gone through."

She put her hand on his shoulder.

"You can hang out with us if you want," Nico offered. "Might be able to help you deal with it all."

"I don't know," Derrick said. "I've been on my own for a few years. I've always wanted to just be left alone. I always hoped that there was some kind of special place where there was nobody to throw their racist crap at me. When Molly told me that LA wasn't as anti-mutant as New York, I thought that it might be that place."

"It might be," Nico said, "but maybe not in the way you expected. Derrick, we look out for each other. No matter how stupidly one of us acts or how badly they mess up, we roll with it. We're a family."

Derrick looked at her.

"We're not like the X-Men," Nico assured him, "and don't even get me started on the Misfits. We don't care what kinds of powers people have. We only care about what kind of person they are. From what I can tell, you're a good person, you've just seen too much crap. Trust me, there's a lot less of said crap in LA than there is in New York."

"…maybe," Derrick said. "Are you sure humanity's worth fighting for?"

"New Yorkers really aren't the most grateful guys around," Nico agreed, "but like I said, things are different here in LA. The people here aren't stupid and paranoid. They're actually halfway-decent."

Derrick stared at the horizon, pausing to take all this in. Maybe humans were worth guarding? The Runaways had the same sort of idea as the X-Men…and yet, the X-Men had the futile hope that humanity would eventually accept mutants through their deeds. The Runaways wanted no part of the mutant conflict.

And neither did Derrick.

The electrokinetic glanced at the people entering and leaving the museum. They wanted to live freely, and whether they acknowledged it or not, the Runaways fought so that they could keep living in such a way. In Los Angeles, humans and mutants were generally equal…why not use his powers to protect his equals? Why not defend those who would never reject their heroes?

He was far from the racism of New York and Bayville, now. And he wanted to keep it that way.

"Okay," he said, "I'll stay."

"Welcome to the team," Nico smiled. "Try not to die."

****

"We hired Deadpool as you suggested," Cobra Commander growled at a man on a television screen, the latter being shrouded by shadows. "He's a complete lunatic! He was more focused on trying to give Destro brain surgery than work for us! He took none of our goals seriously!"

As if on cue, Deadpool rode by on a shopping cart, with a cadre of Cobra troops in pursuit.

"_For he's a really good butt-head!_" Deadpool sang. "_For he's a really good butt-head! For he's a really good butt-head! Who the heck am I kidding?! Destro really sucks!_"

"Yes," the man said, apparently ignoring Deadpool's song, "I anticipated that."

"What?!" Cobra Commander snapped. "Why did you have us hire him, then?!"

"Because," the man replied, "Deadpool's state of mind may cause him to be irritating, but it also assists in his skills. For our alliance to work, Deadpool must be in your control. You control the world…I control Los Angeles."

"What's so special about that little city?" Cobra Commander scoffed.

"With the Pride no longer in control, the city is…how does the expression go?" Cobra's unknown partner said. "Ripe for the picking. That city contains greater power than you realize. Just ask the Pride's children."

"Those brats?!" Cobra Commander snapped. "What do they have to do with this?!"

"Trust in the wisdom of the Black Tarantula," said the mysterious man. "All will be revealed in time."


End file.
